Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), developed by Isabel Briggs Myers and
her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs, is a well known and widely used personality
inventory based on the psychological theories of Carl Gustav Jung. It is often used as a
tool for discovering and understanding different normal human personalities and can be
utilized in a variety of applications such as academic counseling, career development,
conflict resolution, leadership training and relationship counseling, just to cite a few.
However, it should be noted that MBTI is not a test as there are no right or wrong
answers and it does not reveal everything about oneself.
Based on Jung’s psychoanalytical theories, Myers deduced that there were four
dichotomies which made people differ from one another and referred to them as ‘type
preferences’. The four dichotomies and their brief descriptions are presented below:
•
Extraversion or Introversion: Indicates whether people prefer to acquire their
personal energy from the outer world of people and activities, or from inner world
of ideas and thoughts. E.g., extraverts prefer being in large group of people and
introverts tend to take pleasure in quieter activities.
•
Sensing or INtuition: Describes how people take in information, whether they
focus on what is actual and real (factual-based) or prefer to interpret or apply
meaning to what they see. E.g., people who prefer sensing is down-to-earth and
more dependent on past experiences, where as people who prefer intuition are
considered idealists and rely more on the future.
•
Thinking or Feeling: Indicates how people prefer to make decisions, whether it is
based on logical thinking or influenced by their concerns for themselves and
others. E.g., people who prefer feeling over thinking are generally predominant in
helpful professions such as counselors and they pay close attention to other
people’s needs. In addition, those who prefer thinking may seek factual clarity in
solving disputes.
•
Judging or Perceiving: Describes the way you manage you life and how you deal
with the outer world, whether in an orderly manner or spontaneously. E.g., people
who prefer judging like to have everything in order and in a scheduled manner.
On the contrary, people who prefer perceiving are more unplanned and
spontaneous in their lifestyle, including making decisions.
Combinations based on these four categories of type preferences result in 16 different
personality types as shown below.
1. ISTJ – Introverted Sensing with Thinking
2. ISFJ – Introverted Sensing with Feeling
3. INFJ – Introverted Intuition with Feeling
4. INTJ – Introverted Intuition with Thinking
5. ISTP – Introverted Thinking with Sensing
6. ISFP – Introverted Feeling with Sensing
7. INFP – Introverted Feeling with Intuition
8. INTP – Introverted Thinking with Intuition
9. ESTP – Extraverted Sensing with Thinking
10. ESFP – Extraverted Sensing with Feeling
11. ENFP – Extraverted Intuition with Feeling
12. ENTP – Extraverted Intuition with Thinking
13. ESTJ – Extraverted Thinking with Sensing
14. ESFJ – Extraverted Feeling with Sensing
15. ENFJ – Extraverted Feeling with Intuition
16. ENTJ – Extraverted Thinking with Intuition
NOTE: To find out more about these 16 personality types, there is a website ( www.newoceans.co.uk/ew/mbti16.htm) which has concise descriptions of each type. Do check it
out.
Below are some materials which might provide further understanding and insights to the
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
BOOKS
1. Author(s) : Isabel Briggs Myers, Mary H. McCaulley
Title
: Manual, A Guide to the Development and Use of the Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator
Publisher : Consulting Psychologists Press, California
Year
: 1985
2. Author(s) : Sandra Hirsh
Title
: Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator in Organizations
Publisher : Consulting Psychological Press, California
Year
: 1985
3. Author(s) : Naomi L. Quenk
Title
: Essentials of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Assessment
Publisher : Wiley & Sons, New York
Year
: 2000
NOTE: There are ample of related books which might interest you, but these three books
are mainly recommended by avid users. Also, you can find two of them, i.e., no.1 and no.
3 from the UK libraries. Go to INFOKAT and start searching!
WEBSITES
1. www.mbti.com : This is the official website for MBTI information.
2. www.personalitytype.com
3. www.knowyourtype.com
4. www.humanmetrics.com
5. www.discoveryourpersonality.com
6. www.personalitypathways.com
Task 2 (Due 02/03/2005)
There are two parts to this week’s task.
Part I (GRADED)
Detail an Impact statement for the project you are most interested in.
The topics you should address, if relevant are:
Description of project.
Potential Market and impact on existing or related technologies.
Distributors who would potentially carry the product.
Cost of single prototype.
Cost of multiple units.
Manufacturability.
Reliability.
Safety considerations.
Liability.
Environmental impact.
Sustainability and discussion of life cycle.
Social and ethical considerations.
Part II (NOT GRADED EXCEPT THAT YOU DO NEED TO DO IT)
Objective: Students will be able to determine their own personality type based on the
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) questionnaire.
Now that you have some basic knowledge of the concepts behind MBTI, take an
abbreviated version of the inventory, i.e., Jung-Myers-Briggs typology, online at
www.humanmetrics.com. Click on “Jung Typology Test” on the upper left side of the
page. There are 72 yes-no type questions in the inventory. After answering all of them,
click on “Score It” to obtain your result, i.e., the four letter code. There will be some
explanatory materials of your type preferences at the end of the inventory which you can
click on. E-mail your personality type to Delicia at dswoon0@uky.edu. We will compile
all the results to obtain the distribution of the Myers-Briggs personality types for the class
population and present it in the next lecture.
NOTE: Students’ confidentiality will be respected; therefore, no names will be
mentioned/posted in front of the class lecture.